Sunday, April 19, 2009

defining nothing....

Somehow the conversation at our dinner table finally turned from superheros to "what is nothing". For those that don't know my hubby well, this is one of his favorites! I can't remember how it started but for a good 20 minutes Emma and Peter were diligently and earnestly trying to explain to their father what "nothing" is. Peter started off with showing his dad a potato skin. He said, "This is a potato skin". Then he threw it in the trash and then he said, "now there is nothing". Of course this was no where near satisfaction for Philip. So the conversation continued. Emma joined in with reminding her father of the story of creation when God said there was "nothing". On and on they came up with examples, used props, got the dictionary all in earnest desire to convince their father of what "nothing" is. Peter even threw in a bribe of sharing some of his Easter candy if he would just understand.

One of the things that I think about on a consistent basis is whether or not the kids are learning "what they are supposed to". After just listening to this conversation, I was truly amazed by their analytical skills, their ability to formulate a position and their ingenuity in their answers. It was one of those conversations that I would have loved to secretly turned on a hidden camera so we could keep it forever.

2 comments:

Philip said...

i still really want to know what nothing is.....

what is the number zero?

tduncan said...

DeAnne- blessings and prayers are with you my dear if this is the dinner conversation at your house now when the kids are under 7...I cannot fathom what dinner conversations will be in their teen years ;)

And Philip- my stab at defining "nothing" is that it is a paradox because we are attempting to define or name something that is not real! So there! :)